Have a Look Around

Now that we have the time and location set, let us have a look around.
You can pan the display using the arrow keys. If you hold down the
Shift key before panning, the scrolling speed is increased. The
display can also be panned by clicking and dragging with the mouse.
Note that while the display is scrolling, not all objects are
displayed. This is done to cut down on the CPU load
of recomputing object positions, which makes the scrolling smoother
(you can configure what gets hidden while scrolling in the Configure KStars window).
There are several ways to change the magnification (or
Zoom level) of the display:

Use the + and
- keys

Press the Zoom In/Zoom Out buttons in the toolbar

Select
Zoom In/Zoom Out
from the View menu

Select Zoom to Angular Size... from
the View menu. This allows you to specify
the field-of-view angle for the display, in degrees.

Use the scroll wheel on your mouse

Drag the mouse up and down with the middle mouse button pressed.

Hold down Ctrl while dragging the mouse. This
will allow you to define a rectangle in the map. When you release the mouse
button, the display will zoom to match the rectangle.

Notice that as you zoom in, you can see fainter stars than at
lower zoom settings.

Zoom out until you can see a green curve; this represents your local
horizon. If you have not adjusted
the default KStars configuration, the display will be solid green
below the horizon, representing the solid ground of the Earth. There
is also a white curve, which represents the celestial equator, and a brown curve, which
represents the Ecliptic, the path
that the Sun appears to follow across the sky over the course of a
year. The Sun is always found somewhere along the Ecliptic, and the
planets are never far from it.

You can configure KStars to draw or not the celestial equator and Ecliptic curves
on the Sky Map using the
Settings → Configure KStars submenu.
Select the Guides tab and check/uncheck the Celestial equator
and Ecliptic check boxes. You can also configure which colors KStars uses for
drawing these curves, using the Colors tab.